Spider Man getting a Reboot: Raimi and Maquire exit franchise!

It's a sad day in the comic book world. Sony announces that director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maquire will be leaving the lucrative Spiderman Franchise and Sony will be focusing on a "reboot." The fourth entry to the series was slated for Summer 2011 release. The film was haulted a few days ago due to script issues. Raimi claimed issues with a script he was uncomfortable with. Sony, knowing that Maquire would peace-out if Raimi left the series, decided to part ways and script a reboot.

Other reasons for the exodus are that Sony budget the film at $230 million, not quite the $300 budget of Spiderman 3. Entertainment Weekly confirmed that SONY is looking for a more gritty rendition, similiar to Nolan's BATMAN BEGINS (ya, good luck with that). Lastly, a script rumor had Mary Jane Watson sporting a spidey-bump? Should that have been true, let's actually thank Raimi for walking.

Personally, I think this is probably the best move for all parties involved. Sam Raimi publicly denounced Spider-Man 3. He claimed to have severe issues with the script and that SONY pushed Venom's presence in the film. Apparently Raimi didn't want to repeat the mistakes of SM3. Mistakes indeed. SM3 fell short of my (and many) expectations for a Spiderman film. Two villians in a one film is hard enough. A villian such as venom should have been given an entire movie. Raimi had zero desire to incorporate Venom into the third film (maybe not even the franchise).

The real sad part of this is that myself and Andy Weise will no longer get to enjoy the real star of the Spiderman series, J.K. Simmon's J. Jonah Jameson aka Peter Parker obnoxious spiderman-hating boss at the news paper. That guy (as he does in most of his movies) stole the show in each film.

It will be interesting to see what SONY delivers after this news. Sam Raimi will move forward and make great flicks. Maquire did a FANTASTIC job in last months BROTHERS. I think the real losers in this is SONY. But the real question is, who will step into the spidey suit next?